PTI senators want to delay the election of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman, which is supposed to happen tomorrow, until vacant seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are filled.
Five PTI senators went to court and wrote a letter to the Senate secretary about this. The court listened to their request, even though the court office said they should go to a different court. The court asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to respond.
Earlier, elections for 30 vacant Senate seats were planned for April 2. But there was a problem in KP, so the ECP postponed the polls for 11 seats. Still, 19 seats were filled, strengthening the ruling coalition led by PML-N.
President Asif Ali Zardari called for a Senate session on April 9, where new members would be sworn in and the chairman and deputy chairman would be elected.
The PTI senators’ plea said that the election shouldn’t happen until all seats are filled, especially in KP. They argued that according to the Constitution, the Senate needs to be full before electing top positions.
In the court, PTI’s lawyer said postponing the election in KP was illegal and could harm the unity of the country.
The court will decide later. Meanwhile, the senators also wrote a letter to the Senate secretary, asking to delay the elections until all seats are filled, following the Constitution properly.